GOP Obama “Birther” Critic Joins State Race for Attorney General

Two years ago, 147,108 California voters wanted dentist-lawyer-real estate agent-political agitator Orly Taitz to replace Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate. That amounted to just 3.2% of the votes cast, and the woman who made her mark in politics as the “Birther Queen,” insisting that Barack Obama was ineligible to be president because he wasn’t born in the United States, slipped back into obscurity on the pages of World Net Daily.

But now, she appears ready for a political comeback.

Taitz filed papers (pdf) to run for attorney general in the June 3 primary, joining Republican John Haggerty, Libertarian Jonathan Jaech and Democratic incumbent Attorney General Kamala Harris. She is listed with “no party preference,” although she ran as a Republican in 2012 and in 2010, when she was crushed in the Republican primary for Secretary of State. Democrats currently hold all statewide offices.

Although Taitz is best known for her birther blatherings, her 2012 political platform for the Senate race listed her pursuit of President Obama last. Still, it’s hard to forget that among her most stinging accusations against the President was the insinuation that he had his gay lovers put to death.

To be fair, that was an opinion expressed in 2009 and may have changed since. So might these other noteworth opinions gathered by Salon. The president has dozens of Social Security numbers; his real name is Barry Soetoro; and then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rigged American elections through the voting machine company he owns.

The platform was a rather standard list of Republican Party positions, including a balanced budget, more domestic energy production, sanctions against China for currency manipulation, tax credits to bring companies back to America and pursuit of Justice Department officials responsible for “Fast and Furious.”

But she also may have some attraction to people on the left. She was an early advocate of medical marijuana and is a big fan of Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower who unleashed a torrent of classified government documents. Her website proposes petitioning the White House for a new holiday: “Edward Snowden, National Whistleblower—Patriots against Government Corruption Day.”

In a year when the GOP is anticipating a big year at the polls nationally—running against Obamacare and a stagnant economy—party leaders have made a decided effort to rein in the crazy and skip futile gestures like threatening to breach the debt limit. But California promises to keep things lively. Orly Taitz, running for attorney general, will be vying for attention with Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, Republican gubernatorial candidate, border patrol leader and Tea Party favorite.

Both candidates are longshots at this point, so the best viewing of the campaign season might very well be early on.